Help me get back to Washington

It's hard to believe it's time to get ready to go back to Washington DC for the Memorial Day ride to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Last year I was too proud to ask for help getting there. Honestly, I've been too proud to ask for help most of the time and it has lead to hardships I didn't need to take on. Much like veterans too proud to ask for help to heal and while I'm able to talk them out of that kind of thinking, I often find it hard to do the same.

Last year I was there in my Chaplain attire just in case someone needed to talk. With hundreds of Veterans staying at the same hotel, it was a sure bet someone would want or need to talk. One Vietnam veteran, unprepared for the emotional impact the weekend would have on him, we talked for a couple of hours. A young Iraq veteran coming to terms with his own PTSD was trying to understand his father, a Vietnam veteran long ago estranged from the family. During the trip there were many conversations and some of them were just simple ones but all of them meant a great deal to me.

Since 1982 these veterans have tugged at my heart more than any other veterans. Last year the trip helped me create three videos. This is one of them.

Turn the Page of PTSD

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

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My camera is old and the film came out shaky with each bump in the road. I need to replace it as well as cover the expenses of getting there. Even if I receive no donations at all, I will still be going but I am asking for donations to take this burden off my mind so I can focus on them.

Your donations are tax deductible and you can use the PayPal button on the side bar to help me do the work God has sent me to do. This way, you will go with me in spirit even if you can't go to Washington for Memorial Day. We go to honor the dead and comfort the living.

Here's another one

Memorial Day Nam Knights Ride to the Wall

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on May 07, 2010

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Blue Angels Video

Great Americans has a lot of great videos most people don't know about but it is growing because of videos like this.

Blue Angels - Poetry in Motion

Posted to Great Americans by Go USMC on November 09, 2009

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I'm on Great Americans. If you make videos and love the men and women in military service, veterans, police officers, firefighters or emergency responders, you can put your's there too.

Vietnam Vet Sgt. Mike Weathers retires from National Guard after Iraq

Vietnam-era soldier retires from Nat. Guard

The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 9, 2010 16:33:31 EDT

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A soldier with a career spanning the Vietnam War to the current fighting in Iraq has finally hung up his boots.

Sgt. Mike Weathers of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 1-181st Field Artillery Battalion based in Chattanooga retired on Saturday. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Weathers was the only remaining Vietnam veteran still on active duty with the unit.

Weathers was drafted into the Army in 1970 with and did a tour in Vietnam the 101st Airborne Division now based at Fort Campbell, Ky. He left the full-time military, but joined the reserves in 1975.

Weathers served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and in Operation Iraqi Freedom at Camp Bucca, Iraq from 2007-08.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/05/ap_vietnam_retire_050910/

Standing up for female warriors

Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma, as always watching out for all veterans, sent this to me. As always, she is a true friend to veterans, ALL veterans and she wants them all to be treated for what they need, when they need it with no excuses. No wonder why I think she is just another hidden hero.

Even if you want to try to trivialize the role women have had during combat operations, you would really have to live in some kind of world all your own to not understand just how significant their duties were. This is just an idea of what they did during Vietnam alone.

Approximately 11,000 American military women were stationed in Vietnam during the war. Close to ninety percent were nurses in the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Others served as physicians, physical therapists, personnel in the Medical Service Corps, air traffic controllers, communications specialists, intelligence officers, clerks and in other capacities in different branches of the armed services. Nearly all of them volunteered.

By 1967, most all military nurses who volunteered to go to Vietnam did so shortly after graduation. These women were the youngest group of medical personnel ever to serve in war time.

Because of the guerilla tactics of Vietnam, many women were in the midst of the conflict. There was no front, no such thing as "safe behind our lines." Many were wounded; most spent time in bunkers during attacks. The names of the eight military women who died in Vietnam are listed on the "Wall."

Medical personnel dealt with extraordinary injuries inflicted by enemy weapons specifically designed to mutilate and maim. During massive casualty situations, nurses often worked around the clock, conducted triage, assisted with emergency tracheotomies and amputations, debrided wounds and inserted chest tubes so surgeons could get to the next critical patient. Over 58,000 soldiers died in Vietnam; 350,000 were wounded.
read more here
http://www.vietnamwomensmemorial.org/vwmf.php

Lieutenant Colonel Annie Ruth Graham,
Chief Nurse at 91st Evacuation Hospital, Tuy Hoa.
Colonel Graham, from Efland, NC, suffered a stroke in August 1968 and was evacuated to Japan where she died four days later. A veteran of both World War II and Korea, she was 52.

First Lieutenant Sharon Ann Lane
Lieutenant Lane died from shrapnel wounds when the 312th Evacuation Hospital at Chu Lai was hit by rockets on June 8, 1969. From Canton, OH, she was a month short of her 26th birthday. She was posthumously awarded the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm and the Bronze Star for Heroism. In 1970, the recovery room at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, where Lt. Lane had been assigned before going to Vietnam, was dedicated in her honor. In 1973, Aultman Hospital in Canton, OH, where Lane had attended nursing school, erected a bronze statue of Lane. The names of 110 local servicemen killed in Vietnam are on the base of the statue.

Second Lieutenant Carol Ann Elizabeth Drazba
Second Lieutenant Elizabeth Ann Jones
Lieutenant Drazba and Lieutenant Jones were assigned to the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon. They died in a helicopter crash near Saigon, February 18, 1966. Drazba was from Dunmore, PA., Jones from Allendale, SC. Both were 22 years old.

Captain Eleanor Grace Alexander
Captain Alexander of Westwood, NJ and Lieutenant Orlowski of Detroit, MI died November 30, 1967. Alexander, stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital and Orlowski, stationed at the 67th Evacuation Hospital, in Qui Nhon, had been sent to a hospital in Pleiku to help out during a push. With them when their plane crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon were two other nurses, Jerome E. Olmstead of Clintonville, WI and Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. of Owensboro, KY. Alexander was 27, Orlowski 23. Both were posthumously awarded Bronze Stars.

First Lieutenant Hedwig Diane Orlowski
Captain Alexander of Westwood, NJ and Lieutenant Orlowski of Detroit, MI died November 30, 1967. Alexander, stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital and Orlowski, stationed at the 67th Evacuation Hospital, in Qui Nhon, had been sent to a hospital in Pleiku to help out during a push. With them when their plane crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon were two other nurses, Jerome E. Olmstead of Clintonville, WI and Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. of Owensboro, KY. Alexander was 27, Orlowski 23. Both were posthumously awarded Bronze Stars.

Second Lieutenant Pamela Dorothy Donovan
Lieutenant Donovan, from Allston, MA, became seriously ill and died on July 8, 1968. She was assigned to the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon. She was 26 years old.

U.S. Air Force
Captain Mary Therese Klinker
Captain Klinker, a flight nurse assigned to Clark Air Base in the Philippines, was on the C-5A Galaxy which crashed on April 4 outside Saigon while evacuating Vietnamese orphans. This is known as the Operation Babylift crash. There are also US Air Force and Air Force Association web pages about Operation Babylift. From Lafayette, IN, she was 27. She was posthumously awarded the Airman's Medal for Heroism and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Keep in mind as important that work is, there is much more they have done and continue to do serving side by side with their brothers, especially when considering there are no safe zones in Iraq any more than there are safe zones in Afghanistan. In other words, their lives are on the line just as much as males risk their's but bullets and road side bombs are not all they have to worry about. Being sexually attacked by their "brothers" is yet one more trauma they face.

Army Spc. Alyssa R. Peterson, 27, died Sep 14 from what was described as a "non-combat weapons discharge."

Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, of Houston, Texas, was killed on Oct. 1 in Tikrit, Iraq. Pfc.Esparza Gutierrez was in a convoy that was hit by rocket propelled grenades.

Pfc. Rachel Bosveld, 19, was killed Sunday Oct 26th during a mortar attack in Baghdad. Pfc. Bosveld, a member of the 527th Military Police, is from Waupun, Wisconsin.

Pfc. Karina S. Lau, 20, Livingston, California ,was killed in the helicopter crash in Iraq.

Spc. Frances M. Vega,20, of Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. Vega assigned to the 151st Adjutant General Postal Detachment 3, Fort Hood, Texas, was killed in the helicopter crash.

Chief Warrant Officer (CW5) Sharon T. Swartworth , 43, of Virginia was killed when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was shot down Nov. 7, 2003, in Tikrit, Iraq. CWO Swartworth was the regimental warrant officer for the Judge Advocate General Office, based at Headquarters Department of the Army, Pentagon.

Capt. Kimberly N. Hampton, 27, of Easley, S.C., was killed on Jan. 2, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq. Capt. Hampton, was the pilot on a Kiowa, OH-58, Observation Helicopter when it was shot down by enemy ground fire and crashed. She was assigned to 1st Battalion, 82nd Aviation Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Sgt. Keicia M. Hines, 27, of Citrus Heights, Calif., died on Jan. 14 when she was struck by a vehicle on Mosul Airfield in Mosul, Iraq. Hines was assigned to the 108th Military Police, Combat Support Co., Fort Bragg, N.C.

SPC Rachel Lacy, 22, died in 2003 after receiving a series of shots in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan. She became ill right after the inoculations, Two independent panels of medical experts found that the vaccinations may have triggered the illness that killed Spc. Rachel Lacy the Defense Department said.

Helicopter crew chief instructor Staff Sgt. Lori Anne Privette, 27 died when a UH-1N Huey helicopter crashed during a training flight. SSgt. Privette joined the Marine Corps in August 1994 and just returned from serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
you can read a lot more of these stories here

http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/lives.html

As you can see, as important as it is for them to be taking care of the medical needs, they also risk their lives. Had this been the other way around, do you think a male would ever put up with having to have a prostrate exam in the middle of a maternity ward? Believe it or not, some women have gone to the VA and then end up being told they have to have a prostrate exam because it's on the list of tests to do. Never mind having to have a gynecological exam with no privacy at all. We also have homeless female veterans but along with too many of them come children the veterans shelters, even when they do manage to set aside beds for females, can't take in children with them. They have to go to the regular shelters instead of being given what they need to get back on their feet.

So here is what you may have thought was a rant from a female veteran but now maybe you understand how wrong it is for them to come home and receive less.

Standing up for female warriors
By Angela Peacock Posted: Sunday, May 9, 2010

I read your April 11 article, “A path to inner peace,” about the Pathway Home in Yountville with interest.

I am an Iraq veteran from 2003 and served with the Army’s First Armored Division, in Baghdad, Iraq, right after the war began. I was later diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from numerous incidents that occurred in theater. In fact, I served in the same area, during the same time period, as one of the soldiers quoted in the story. If you’ve ever seen the documentary “Lioness,” you can see that many women served in combat areas and were exposed to the same dangers that our male veterans face.

I took an interest in the Pathway Home as a possible residential treatment program that I could attend as an option for my combat-induced PTSD. After sending them an e-mail as to my interest in their program, this was their response:

“We are actually still trying to find funding for a women’s program. We are aware of the great need for this type of program and are working diligently to make it happen. When we do start the program though, it will be advertised at the VA, Vet Centers, military installations, and on our website.”

The response disappointed me greatly. I then looked for another residential program with a combat PTSD focus for women veterans, with no luck. Instead I had to drive 2,100 miles from St. Louis, Mo., to Long Beach, Calif., to attend an Military Sexual Trauma-focused program at the VA to treat my PTSD. (Where, I might add, we were housed with male veterans at a homeless shelter. Almost all the women in the program relapsed into addiction while we were there because of that stressor. I was only able to stay strong because of my years of yoga and meditation before ever going.)
read more here
Standing up for female warriors

The Voice, Women at War

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

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the rest of my videos are on the side bar

Two bad motorcycle accidents in Central Florida

Woman on motorcycle hit in face by wild turkey
The Associated Press

11:53 a.m. EDT, May 9, 2010


SARASOTA, Florida — An Arcadia, Florida, woman was riding her motorcycle in Sarasota County when a wild turkey flew into her path and hit her in the face.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that Lori Hansen, 42, was taken by helicopter to a St. Petersburg hospital in serious condition after Saturday afternoon's crash.

FHP says Hansen was knocked unconscious by the impact. The motorcycle ran off the road and struck a barbed-wire fence, entangling Hansen.
Woman on motorcycle hit in face by wild turkey

Fatal crash in Lake County kills motorcyclist
Crash on County Road 452 near Leesburg

By Sara K. Clarke, Orlando Sentinel

11:06 a.m. EDT, May 9, 2010

A single-vehicle crash near Leesburg has left a Michigan motorcylist dead, Florida Highway Patrol said Sunday.

Herbert Steven Longaker, 56, was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle on County Road 452 north of Em En El Grove Road at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

He traveled onto the shoulder and lost control of his motorcycle, which overturned twice. Longaker, who was from Clio, Michigan, was fatally injured in the crash, FHP said.

FHP said it has not yet determined what caused the crash.
Fatal crash in Lake County kills motorcyclist

Western troops join Russia's Victory Day parade

UK soldiers march through Red Square during the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia on May 9.

Western troops join Russia's Victory Day parade
By the CNN Wire Staff
May 9, 2010 11:11 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The Soviet Union suffered the most losses of any country during World War II
Millions of Russians watched the parade on TV, attended smaller parades
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: says the victory won in 1945 was "our common victory"

Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Troops from the United States, Britain and France marched in the annual Victory Day parade through Red Square for the first time Sunday, a step Russia's president called a nod toward their "common victory" in World War II.

The annual parade celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany by the former Soviet Union and its Western allies and serves as a demonstration of Russian military might. More than 120 aircraft flew overhead and more than 10,500 troops paraded through the capital this year.

"The victory won in 1945 was our common victory, a victory of good over evil, of justice over lawlessness," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a reception honoring veterans after the parade.
go here for more
Western troops join Russia Victory Day parade

Military Officers Association throws support behind malpractice bill

MOAA throws support behind malpractice bill

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 7, 2010 16:00:15 EDT

A bill that would reverse a 60-year-old Supreme Court ruling that bans service members from suing the federal government for medical errors has gained the endorsement of an influential advocacy group.

“Your legislation would remove an inequity,” retired Vice Adm. Norb Ryan, president of the 370,000-member Military Officers Association of America, wrote in a Friday letter to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., the lead sponsor of the bill.

Legal recourse for medical negligence, Ryan noted, “is available to all other citizens, including military dependents, military retirees and survivors and their dependents, and even federal prisoners and wartime detainees. MOAA agrees that it is inconsistent to treat service members differently.”
read more here
MOAA throws support behind malpractice bill

Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister, wounded in Iraq climbs Mount McKinley

Wounded warriors summit McKinley

Soldier wounded in Iraq won’t let injury end his career or limit his goals
By Joe Gould - Staff writers
Posted : Sunday May 9, 2010 15:07:15 EDT

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — The roadside bomb that destroyed Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister’s Humvee in al-Hillah, Iraq, in 2007, blasted a jet of molten metal through the rear driver’s side door to the front passenger seat. It ripped through a sergeant and a gunner’s legs, sprayed shrapnel into the driver’s back and into an interpreter’s face.

When Hoffmeister lifted his left arm to radio for help, he saw a hole had been cut through it. The wound could have ended his career, if not his life, but Hoffmeister would not let it.

The officer from Eagle River, Alaska, fought his way to recovery, and in June is due to assume command of the 6th Engineer Battalion, which may deploy to Iraq in the fall.

“I haven’t stopped since I was wounded, I haven’t had the opportunity to,” said Hoffmeister, who was in the pre-command course here last month.

More impressively, he climbed treacherous Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, with three other wounded warriors.
read more here
Wounded warriors summit McKinley

Georgia about to make PTSD even worse

“Why would I want to put out there on my license – hey, I’m a nut job,” said Marvin Myers, president of the Georgia Vietnam Veterans Alliance Inc.

Some veterans have pins or patches with "This veteran medicated for your own protection" and it's up to them what they want to let others know. This law, supposedly is intended to do the same however, as with most laws, the law will take on a life of its own.

If they really wanted to help, then for heaven's sake, why didn't they use their brain? Why not have Combat Veteran instead of PTSD? That would have not only made a lot more sense, but would have honored the fact they are among the few to know what it is like to fight for this country.

PTSD diagnosis could appear on driver's licenses

By Nancy Badertscher


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Some Georgians could soon be carrying a unique driver’s license – one that says they have post-traumatic stress disorder.


Lawmakers recently passed legislation that would allow current and former military to request the PTSD designation on their driver’s licenses.

The legislation, which has to be signed by the governor to become law, would likely make Georgia the first state with a driver’s license that denotes a specific health problem, other than poor eyesight.

Some veterans and law enforcement officials say they can’t image that many servicemen and servicewomen will want their PTSD diagnosis put on display when they present their driver’s licenses to cash a check, buy alcohol, board an airplane or face a traffic cop.
Read more here after you are done screaming!

http://www.ajc.com/news/ptsd-diagnosis-could-appear-523250.html

60 Florida National Guardsmen back home

60 Guard Members Home From Iraq
Air Operations Battalion Received Honors, Did Not Suffer Single Casualty

POSTED: Sunday, May 9, 2010
UPDATED: 1:12 pm EDT May 9, 2010

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- About 60 members of a Florida National Guard unit were welcomed home Saturday from a year-long deployment in Iraq.

After a year of guiding flights of personnel and equipment overseas, the 111th Air Operations Battalion nicknamed the Overseers landed on a much friendlier runway at Cecil Commerce Center to be greeted by a crowd of family and friends.

A C-130 ferried the soldiers to an open hangar where the returning guardsmen and women were greeted with cheers as they stepped off the plane and were congratulated by Florida National Guard leadership for a job well done.

"We had no injuries and we brought everybody home safely," said Col. William Thurmond. "We're looking forward to our next mission."

While deployed, the battalian operated four facilities in Kuwait and Iraq. Officials said the unit provided air traffic control services for more than 65,000 takeoffs and landings in the Iraq theater.
read more here
http://www.news4jax.com/news/23500155/detail.html